Course Description

During the period from 1265, Dante’s date of birth, to 1375, when Boccaccio died, one civilization ended and another began. Dante is the last great voice of Medieval Italy. Boccaccio links the medieval way of life to the age of humanism, and Petrarch, torn by unresolved inner conflicts, stands as the first “modern man”. Excerpts from Dante’s Inferno, Boccaccio’s Decameron, and Petrarch’s Canzoniere will be read. All writing assignments, class discussions and readings are in English.